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4 posts from August 2005

August 19, 2005

This October, Tumis Designers Favianna Rodriguez and Jesus Barraza, will receive an award from the Center for the Study of Political Graphics (CSPG) for the outstanding work they have done with the Taller Tupac Amaru. The Taller Tupac Amaru was founded in 2003 by Favianna and Jesus. Thanks to support from the City of Oakland Cultural Arts Department and Tumis, the Taller was able to obtain the necessary equipment, including an exposure unit, a large sink, ink and paper, and launch their screenprinting operation. The mission of the Taller Tupac Amaru is to produce and distribute screenprinted political posters and to foster a resurgence in the screenprinting medium. Both Jesus and Favianna were trained by printmaking masters in California, including Jose Alpuche from Self Help Graphics (Los Angeles) and Juan Fuentes from the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts (San Francisco). In the past 2 years, the Taller Tupac Amaru has printed over 30 posters for community grassroots organizations throughout California. Their political posters address themes of education, incarceration, globalization, femicide, media justice, neo-colonialism, self-determination, and third world unity. Their posters have been distributed to the international community at gatherings such as the Free Press Conference, the World Social Forum, and the National Political Hip Hop Convention. In April of 2005, the Taller traveled to Mexico City to teach a political poster workshop with young Mexican artists. There they co-established a Mexico based affilitate, the Taller Xolotl.

The relationship between the Taller Tupac Amaru and CSPG goes back many years. In 1998, Favianna was an intern for CSPG, where she first became inspired to become a political poster artist. Since 2000, Favianna and Jesus have been actively donating posters to the CSPG archive, one of the largest political poster archives in the world. Likewise, CSPG houses the official Taller Tupac Amaru collection. In fall of 2004, the Taller collaborated with political artists Malaquias Montoya, Emory Douglas, and Barbara Carrasco to produce a portfolio for CSPG. Jesus handprinted the posters for these three nationally-recognized political artists.

CSPG is an educational and research archive that collects, preserves, documents, and circulates domestic and international political posters relating to historical and contemporary movements for social change. With more than 50,000 domestic and international graphics, CSPG has the largest collection of Post-World War II political graphics in the country. Through traveling and online exhibitions, presentations, and publications, CSPG is reclaiming the power of art to inspire people to action.

Each year CSPG acknowledges outstanding artists and activists. This year they will be honoring:
- Community leaders and activists Marge Tabankin & Earl Katz with the Culture of Liberation Award
- Center for Cuban Studies and its executive Director Sandra Levinson with
the Historian of the Lions Award
- Taller Tupac Amaru and its founders with the Art as a Hammer Award.

This award is a prestigious honor for the Tumis/Taller Tupac Amaru family. Previous awardees include:

You can congratulate Favianna and Jesus by supporting CSPG in this large event. To purchase an ad for the Program Booklet or to purchase a ticket for the award dinner, contact Center for the Study of Political Graphics (CSPG), 8124 W. Third St., Los Angeles, CA 90048-4309, Phone 323.653.4662

August 15, 2005

My partner Estria designed and "Oaksterdam" t-shirt last year using the colors of the Oakland Athletics. To our surprise, the shirt has become a hit in Oakland. In this article, the shirt is described as a "big seller." Oaksterdam the nickname for the small area of downtown Oakland where pot clubs proliferated until the city shuttered all but four last year. To purchase the shirt click here. The original article is below:

The big seller is the green, gold and white baseball-style T-shirts emblazoned across the chest with "Oaksterdam," the nickname for the small area of downtown Oakland where pot clubs proliferated until the city shuttered all but four last year.

They look a lot like Oakland Athletics jerseys and have become hot sellers, even among police officers, Lee said.

"I bought an Oaksterdam T-shirt for my husband, but he can't wear it to work because he's a high school teacher," said Chris Ralls, an Oakland resident who visited the store Wednesday. "He's Dutch, we've visited Amsterdam ... he doesn't need a new T-shirt, but he'll wear this one, absolutely."

Lee and Galindo spent about $10,000 and a few months sprucing up the old storefront at 405 15th St., between Broadway and Franklin Street in Oaksterdam. They opened the gift shop to support the revitalization of downtown Oakland and keep alive Oaksterdam and maybe even promote it as a tourist attraction.

They thought they'd have to spend a bundle on advertising, but the bright, airy shop is getting a lot of foot traffic from downtown workers.

"I walked by it on my way to the post office," said Grier, a book designer who did not want to divulge her last name. She left with a couple of popular silicone rubber wristbands, similar to ones that support causes such as breast cancer research and tsunami relief. These have the number "420" framed by marijuana leaves — 420 is a code for pot.

"One's for me, and one's for a friend, or one might be for my nephew, but I'm not sure if my brother will go for it," she said, laughing.

Oakland police Sgt. Serge Babka has visited the shop and called it an "interesting addition" to the neighborhood.

"It looks like a nice, clean store," he said. "It's good when the storefronts get filled in. Vacancies are subject to loitering and other problems, so as long as the business is not detrimental to other businesses, it's good. And I don't think (Oaksterdam Gift Shop) is a detriment."

Babka would only offer "no comment" when asked whether he bought anything there. Others had no qualms about showing off their purchases.

The store carries the expected paraphernalia such as rolling papers, pipes and how-to books on cultivation and hydroponic farming. But shoppers can also select from marijuana leaf-shaped antenna toppers, ale glasses, "Munchie" bag clips, mouse pads and holiday lights.

Lee wrote Oakland Measure Z, the November ballot initiative that laid the groundwork for the decriminalization of marijuana and made private adult use of pot the police department's lowest priority. It passed with 65 percent of the vote, and Lee is revving up a campaign for a similar measure in San Francisco next year.

Ralls, a community activist of a different sort, said she supported Measure Z but is just as happy to find merchandise that promotes her home town.

"I like Oakland stuff, but it's hard to find," she said. "You go to the Oakland airport, and what do you see? San Francisco crap. I'm always proud to wear Oakland."

August 4, 2005

On July 28th, I interviewed Andrea Echeverry and Hector Buitrago of the Columbian rock band, Aterciopelados. They were visiting San Francisco as part of their US tour that included stops in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. Aterciopelados launched their music careers in the early 90's with their release of El Dorado. Since then, they have produced six albums and three of them have been nominated for a Grammy. Without a doubt, Aterciopelados is one of the most influential bands of the Latin-American music landscape. They are also my favorite band. Andrea, through her lyrics and her eccentric personality, has always established herself as a woman with power and self-confidence, a woman that will not put up with the machista views of Latin America . Hector is the mastermind behind the production of the music, blending all genres from mariachi to electronica to surf music. He is truly an experimental musician that has never settled for the same-ol-same-ol. He is constantly searching for the perfect beat, and it shows.

Aterciopelados capture in their music the day-to-day reality of living in Latin America, particularly in times like these where countries are facing the impacts of globalization and are living the aftermath of economies broken by US foreign policy. Their music not only captures this reality in a humorous, fun, and at times sad way, but also expresses this from the perspective of a woman. In many of her songs, Andrea rejects the traditional Latin American notion of "machismo", ridiculing patriarchial tendencies, and pushing forward an alternative way of thinking. For example, in one of her pieces, she sings about a woman who married young, fell in love with a man she barely knew, only to be shocked when he hits her violently. In the song, the woman telephones Doctora Corazon (Dr. Heart) and shares her story. The song narrates the woman's struggle and her moment of self-reflection, and closes by saying, "en un lugar en Sudamerica" (in a place in South America). This closing statement affirms a unity among South American women, who all too often grow up in a society where domestic violence is acceptable, even encouraged at times.

This interview was a powerful moment for me because I met the creators of a an art that had touched my spirit. Their music touched me for many years, inspired me to be the artist I am today

Throughout the interview, I discussed the state of Latin America with both Andrea and Hector. I also touched on the theme of Andrea's new solo album, a production in which Andrea describes the beautiful experience of her pregnancy, her daughter's birth and how this birth changed her outlook on life. Her lyrics tell a story of womanhood and motherhood from the perspective a young, hip, Latin American woman who has grown up rejecting traditional notions of what a woman should be. The content of her album is truly rare. Women in rock sing about love, about heartbreak, about sucess, but HARDLY do they talk about motherhood. I believe this is due to the fact that the music industry constantly objectifies women as sexual objects to be desired, had and worshipped. Female musicians, unlike their male counterparts, have an expectation to be pretty, skinny, perky, cute...and to have great bodies. So where does a woman who is pregnant fit into that? Pregnancy is a time when we get fat, when we get moody, emotional, needy, even bitchy. Where does that fit in commercial music? Well, Andrea MADE it fit, in her own way of course, and for that she should be supported. Since she launched her career, Andrea had always challenged traditional standards of beauty. This is rare in a world of music where women, especially Latina woman, are expected to be half naked to suceed as artists.

I hope to design some posters for Aterciopelados in the near future. Be sure to check out the interview. It's a bit large, 11 MB, and it's in Spanish. It begins with their song, Fantasia from their album Gozo Poderoso.

click here to hear the interview which aired on KPFA 94.1 La Raza Chronicles on August 1st